Group Çarşı
Founded	1982
Motto Motto A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...	Çarşı, her şeye karşı! (Çarşı is against everything!)
Website	www.forzabesiktas.com

Beşiktaş Çarşı Grubu (shortly Çarşı) (the Group Carsi) is the best known supporter group of BJK history.
They locate themselves on Kapalı (Covered Stand) in the football matches and known for their expressed common views on up-to-date topics, organized way of acting, and genuine manner of chanting.

There are lots of catch-phrases of the group, “Çarşı, her şeye karşı!” (English: ‘’Çarşı is against everything!”') being probably the most famous one. Çarşı's symbol refers to the symbol of anarchism and has a common fame for the left-leaning character of its supporters who may be counted as anti-racist, anti-fascist, anti-sexist, pluralist and ecologist.

In May 2008, Çarşı repealed themselves unexpectedly. However, the post-epilogue discussions are still continuing due to intellectual conflict between the supporters.

Definition

In Turkey; Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray

Galatasaray

Galatasaray Spor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club based in Istanbul, most notable for its football section, also known as Galatasaray S.K.. It also fields teams in Athletics, Basketball, Wheelchair basketball, Volleyball, Water polo, Swimming, Rowing, Sailing, Judo, Bridge, Equestrian, Handball,...

 are accepted as the biggest three clubs (Trabzonspor

Trabzonspor

Trabzonspor is a professional Turkish football club located in the city of Trabzon, Turkey. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor won six championships in Turkish Super League. The Club won their first Championship title in 1975 which is also the Club's initiation year...

 is the fourth occasionally), as they are the most successful ones in Turkish football history

Football in Turkey

Association football is a national sport in Turkey, tracing its roots back to the Ottoman Empire. The first matches were played in Selanik, now known as Thessaloníki, in 1875. The sport was brought over by some lovely English people living in the area. The Turkish football league system currently...

, having the highest number of supporters. There are also numerous supporter groups of many teams, i.e. ultrAslan

Ultraslan

ultrAslan is an ultras group who support Turkish football club Galatasaray. They were named as "ultrAslan" in 2001 but their history goes way back. They have branches both in Turkey and abroad...

 for Galatasaray, Genç FB for Fenerbahçe, Group Yalı for Göztepe A.Ş.

Göztepe A.S.

Göztepe SK are a Turkish sports club in Güzelyalı, İzmir.They were founded in 1925 as a breakaway club from Altay. Their colours are red-yellow. They merged with İzmirspor and were renamed as Doğanspor in 1937. Some supporters of İzmirspor opposed the merger and founded Ateşspor in 1938. Doğanspor...

. The name of groups would be related to team’s name or badge, the symbol of the city, or a specific place inside the city. The name 'Çarşı' is also an example for this situation. Çarşı literally means Downtown in Turkish. In 80s, the young people of Beşiktaş district

Besiktas

Beşiktaş is a municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and on the east by the Bosphorus...

 who were supporting Beşiktaş J.K.

Besiktas J.K.

Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü , or simply Beşiktaş , is a Turkish sports club. The club's football team is one of the major teams in Turkey. The professional sports club, founded in 1903, is based in the Beşiktaş district in Istanbul, Turkey...

, were usually spending their time around the bazaar, located in the centre of the district. They were living, coming together and supporting the team together in that specific place. This lifestyle led them to found the group with the name of Çarşı in 1982.

Çarşı is basically accepted as a supporter group. It is also believed that Çarşı is not a certain group, it is more likely a common way of acting, including the common beliefs of the supporters; therefore Çarşı is a dignity, or a form of common soul of the Beşiktaş supporters. According to a definition which is written by a well-known fan Alp Batu Keçeci, Çarşı is described as an abstract notion rather than a basic and solid fan group.

What is Çarşı?
.

This definition collected positive reactions of the supporters and it was embraced in course of time. Many of the internet fan forums have given place for this article.

Characteristics

Çarşı separates itself from other Beşiktaş fan groups by its members' attitude during the matches, and with their placards. The group was formed in 1981–82 season and their fame began to spread in 90s. Çarşı does not have a homogenous structure and it does not consist of a certain group of people with a specific identity. People from different social backgrounds, cultural environments, and ethnic origins are assembled at the group even though they support opposite ways of thinking in terms of politics or ideologies. An all-around antagonist image and attitude represent the basic characteristics of the group.
Name of the group comes from the central market place of Beşiktaş district, where is located in downtown, near by the Istanbul Bosphorus

Bosporus

The Bosphorus or Bosporus , also known as the Istanbul Strait , is a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with the Dardanelles...

. Beşiktaş Çarşı contains many restaurants, bars, a big fish market, and also numerous cosmetics, clothing and technology shops. There the fans assemble and spend their daytime with various activities until the matches. It is possible to see the fans on match days, wearing black-white jerseys at the fish restaurants and bars. Also, the newly produced chants by Beşiktaş fans are usually sung and embraced for the first time in Beşiktaş Çarşı.

After their meetings, fans generally walk to the home ground, İnönü Stadium with passing the pavement near by Dolmabahçe Palace

Dolmabahçe Palace

Dolmabahçe Palace located in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European coastline of the Bosphorus strait, served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1922, apart from a 22-year interval in which Yıldız Palace was used.- History :Dolmabahçe Palace...

. They generally prefer to arrive there about 2 or 3 hours before the matches; however, majority of people do not get in the stadium instantly. They also like to hang around the stadium just before going in, for different reasons such as meeting their friends, to have some drink or chanting for adaptation right before the matches.

In Istanbul, supporters live in both European and Asian side of Bosphorus, and so do Çarşı members. The Asian side inhabitants go to stadium by both road and sea transportation, but sea transportation is used more frequently. The fans mainly get on the ferries from Kadıköy

Kadiköy

Kadıköy is a large, populous, and cosmopolitan district of İstanbul, Turkey on the Asian side of the Sea of Marmara, facing the historic city centre on the European side of the Bosporus...

 or Üsküdar

Üsküdar

Üsküdar is a large and densely populated municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered on the north by Beykoz, on the east by Ümraniye, on the southeast by Ataşehir, on the south by Kadıköy, and on the west by the Bosphorus, with the areas of Beşiktaş,...

 districts, where they can arrive to Beşiktaş in approximately 20 minutes.
There are both directly related members of group and just normal supporters who want to be a part of action; also it is likely to see many university students among the members. Therefore, the group stand out with its quip, witty and humorist aspect. Çarşı generally react the topics and incidents with an unexpected manner.

Çarşı utilize some symbols to express their opinions. One of them is a derivative form of letter A

A

A is the first letter and a vowel in the basic modern Latin alphabet. It is similar to the Ancient Greek letter Alpha, from which it derives.- Origins :...

 as it used in the notion of anarchy. However, Çarşı states that they re-shaped the symbol with extending the low ends of the letter to show the difference. Hence, they use the letter as a symbol of rebellious soul . This notion has been an inspiration as to the name of the TV documentary Asi Ruh dedicated to the group which was begun in 2007, the group's 25th anniversary, and which was out on DVD in 2008.
The assortment of support is very wide, it is possible to see the fans from teenagers to the age groups near the 60-year-old or older. The fans would wear the official team products as well as the products based on Çarşı.

Defunction and reactions

On 28 May 2008, Çarşı concluded its presence by a farewell letter written by Alen Markaryan

Alen Markaryan

Alen Markaryan, is a Turkish supporters leader and sport columnist of Armenian descent. He is one of the most famous members of Group Çarşı....

, arguably the main cheerleader . During the Press Gala of ‘’Asi Ruh’’ documentary, Markaryan declared that they decided to repeal the group after the discussions which questioned the group’s position as coming before Beşiktaş J.K. itself for the supporters. According to the newspapers, some subsequent reactions came up even in the gala. Discussions are yet to be finished. In internet forums, some users cite that they are proponent to the decision, but also showing the tendency to keep the group's ideology and legacy. On the other hand, there are also users who believe that Çarşı can not be concluded like a defunct organization.